How is it misguided for those with a political philosophy based on class politics to criticise* identity politics
On a previous thread
killer b asked a good question for those that consider them socialists and supporters of identity politics.
I mean I think it's very hard to argue that identitypolitics isn't used to attack class politics, there are plenty of examples of it on U75 alone.
Even the slight move to the left in the Labour and Democratic parties (which I wouldn't describe as class politics) was opposed on the basis of identitypolitics.
*I'm deliberately not using your "dismiss' as I don't think socialists dismiss indentitypoltics, rather they see it as part of the problem.
I suppose for me that is the crux of the matter - it's how these important fights around say women's right to be a part of major decision-making processes, or Black people's right to not live under the threat of police brutality, are actually addressed. I mean really addressed - by people taking an active and nuanced look at what needs to be done, and going out and challenging the existing structures.
To an analysis where only class-based whole-system-toppling actions are relevant, I can see how much of those developments might seem concessionary and incremental. But these are issues that effect people at the heart of their existence and where action needs to urgently be taken. The problems I have with theorists who don't see the power of people coming together around their own experiences and creating learning and response out of that, is that these campaigns get continually deferred otherwise.
Of course it's true to say that most socialist groups and individuals are wholly committed to anti-racism, anti-sexism, etc., and I know and have been witness to the bravery of those who have fought and stood up against those forces. But who was organising to go lie down in the street when Black people were being murdered by police? Who is it that is actually going to try to promote an equal space for women's voices in meetings? If we all have to wait for the left to get on board with every action, or for communities to include a class-based analysis in order for protest to be legitimate, then we'll be waiting a bloody long time.
It's pretty easy to say you shouldn't campaign for more Black faculty members, when the issue doesn't effect you in the same way (and you may not even have a complete picture of how that kind of exclusion wroughts its effects). It's easy to say you shouldn't have a women's group whilst simultaneously benefiting from an easier route to speaking platforms, etc.
My ideal for grouping and campaigning around identity is that it serves as a university for thoughts and actions around the issues. We'd never of had feminism without women getting themselves the fuck out of shared spaces, getting their heads together, and working out what was unique about their struggle. And the results of that have been, on the whole, brilliant.
I think the left needs to take a more pragmatic (and less dogmatic) approach to these movements. They are ripe for politicising in the best possible way. Look what's happened to Black Lives Matter - true, it was seeped in academic culture from the very start - but this will be the very first time that many of the grassroots activists involved will have seen their own struggles tied up with those of First Nation people (BLM has been active in supporting indigenous land issues), white victims of police brutality, gay and disabled rights issues, etc. That came out of a movement focussed really exclusively on identity at first, but which has a) achieved results, and b) widened its scope.